Hamburg Süd to acquire CCNI liner business

Hamburg Süd has signed a preliminary agreement with the Chilean container shipping company CCNI under which it will acquire the container liner activities of CCNI including the related general agency functions. The two companies already cooperate on many services today.
The deal is subject to due diligence, execution of a sale and purchase agreement and approval by the competent authorities, and is scheduled to be executed by Dec. 31, at the latest.
Hamburg Süd said it intends to "strengthen its liner network to and from South America by integrating the CCNI liner services." It said merging the workforces of the two companies will create an even stronger organization.
CCNI will continue its non-liner shipping activities including the car carrier and ship-owning business.
Hamburg Süd is the 13th largest container carrier whose 106-ship fleet has a capacity of 493,800 TEU — 250,756 TEU on 41 owned ships, and 243,044 TEU on 65 chartered ships, according to Alphaliner, which adds that the German carrier has 12 ships with 103,002 TEU carrying capacity on order.
It says CCNI is the 28th largest container carrier with 59,826 TEU on 17 ships, all chartered. It also has has 4 ships with 36,130 TEU capacity on order.